Tentative agreement reached on power rate hike

Friday, Feb. 27, 1998 | 10:37 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A tentative agreement has been reached to permit Nevada Power Co. customers to pay higher rates so the Las Vegas utility can invest in solar power and other renewable resources.

The program, which must be approved by the state Public Utilities Commission, allows a customer to either round up his monthly power bill or add a flat rate of $5, $10 or $20 to their monthly bill. The money would allow Nevada Power to develop alternate forms of energy.

The "Green Power Option" agreement was hammered out Thursday among the utility, the state Bureau of Consumer Protection in the attorney general's office, the PUC, and the Corporation for Solar Technology Resources.

"Numerous polls have indicated that consumers support the development of clean, renewable electricity resources," Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa said. "But consumers will only support programs like this if they can be assured that the money they contribute to these programs is actually spent to develop renewable energy."

Customers will see a separate notation on their monthly bill and Nevada Power will issue quarterly reports on how many residential and non-residential customers are involved in the program. The company also will disclose how much money has been received, what expenditures have been made and the amount of energy produced by the contributions.

The agreement states a customer's power cannot be turned off for failure to pay the additional funds and a customer must give permission before any information can be revealed concerning the contribution.

The Bureau of Consumer Protection said it will monitor the program to see that no significant portion of the donated funds is spent on administrative and marketing expenses.

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